Moonlight Waltz
by Luminous Blue
Summary: [Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime] After great thought, Rein decides to confess to her beloved Prince Bright at a ball. Sadly, things don't quite work out the way she expected, and she ends up spending the night with the person she least expected to be with.


**Moonlight Waltz**

Disclaimer: _Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime_ and its characters are copyrighted by their respective owners. In other words, I don't own the series or characters.

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The Sunny Kingdom was one of the seven kingdoms on the Mysterious Planet. It flew high up over the other six kingdoms and gave light to the rest of the planet. One thing that made this kingdom very unique was its two princesses, Fine and Rein. The two twins were the most unprincess-like princesses in the history of the Mysterious Planet. While both shared the same hyperactive behavior, Fine was the tomboyish and athletic one, while Rein was feminine and adventurous.

Today, King Truth and Queen Elsa were throwing a huge ball in the evening. The king and queen would invite all of the citizens of Sunny Kingdom, as well as the royal families of the planet. Fine was more interested in the types of sweets that would be catered. Rein, on the other hand, had something else on her mind. After all, a girl in love has more to worry about than trivial things like food.

After great thought, Rein finally decided to confess her feelings to her beloved Prince Bright. She harbored immense feelings for him ever since their first meeting. It's true that she found him quite handsome, but it was his personality that swept her off her feet, not his looks. Rein loved how gentle and caring he was with everyone. Bright's philosophical nature only made her gushier. She was 101 percent sure her love for him wasn't a small crush, and she could do _anything _to get his attention.

Princess Rein was staring directly at her room's mirror. Her sister, Fine, was more occupied in squealing to Poomo, their animal sidekick Princess Grace had granted them, about the grand cake the royal chefs were preparing. The cake-loving princess had first attempted to chat with Rein, but she found her lovesick sister only listening to half of what she had to say.

Rein's aquamarine eyes looked solemnly at the image being projected in front of her. She was a bit uneasy about how she'd let the one she loved how she truly felt for him. Seeing as there would be a lot of people at the ball, confessing to him in the ballroom would be tactful. Everyone would be occupied with their own conversations, leaving the two lovebirds free to talk.

At the same time, this advantage had the possibility of giving birth to a disadvantage. If Bright rejected her (or something went out of extreme proportions), there was a change someone could overhear their conversation and spread the word to everyone at the ball. While Rein would eventually overcome ridiculous rumors, she didn't want _anyone _to taint Prince Bright's public persona. After all, he was such a good person.

The more she tried thinking of a plan, the tighter the knot in the stomach became. After being dragged out of the bedroom chamber by Fine, an idea clicked into Rein's head.

"The balcony outside…" a small voice whispered in her mind. "It would be the perfect place to tell Prince Bright that I love him!"

The ballroom was exquisite tonight, although the hall managed to maintain its grand feeling even when there wasn't a party being hosted. Many people of different social casts were conversing below the gold-tinted chandelier crystals that illuminated the whole room. The beauty of the room's crimson carpeting was further enhanced by the chandelier's light.

A few large rectangular tables were topped with a vast variety of foods and beverages. The main attraction, however, was the large wedding cake tall confection that was covered in light coral icing and rimmed at the sides with rosy pink frosting. It was placed right at the center of the ballroom, looking as glossy as it could possibly be.

To most people, a fancy cake was a rather nominal thing. For Fine, the cake was like a dream come true.

While Fine darted to the cake of her dreams, Rein's mind was focused on finding Prince Bright. She tried munching on a few appetizers to cool down, but it wasn't working successfully. The five cups of fruit punch she drank just made her feel more jumpy and uneasy. She had scooted through numerous amounts of adults and children for almost a half an hour, but she did not find her beloved prince. Finally, she felt someone lightly tap her on the shoulder.

"Princess Rein?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

The blue-haired princess felt her pulse increase by ten fold as she attempted to turn over to the person that called her name. She knew who had tapped her shoulder. Why, it was no other than the charming prince from Jewelry Kingdom, Prince Bright. His caramel-colored eyes looked at her turquoise ones. Rein felt like she was melting like milk chocolate would on a hot summer. If there would be one instant where time would stop, she wished it was this one. Just then, she came back to her senses and remembered what she wanted to accomplish tonight.

"Um, Prince Bright?" Rein nervously asked. She was lightly rubbing the ruffles that protruded out of the blue V-shaped outer skirt she was wearing. Her cheeks turned rosy pink as she gave Bright direct eye contact.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." she continued.

"What would you like to tell me, Princess Rein?" Bright inquisitively asked.

"I'd prefer it if we could move over to the balcony area…"

"Oh? Well, that's fine with me, thoug-"

"Big brother! Big brother!" a squeaky, confident voice blared. "You haven't danced with me yet!"

"Altessa, I-"

"You've been dancing with a bunch of old ladies and that one crazy princess from Windmill Kingdom, but you haven't danced with **me**!"

"But Alt-"

A blonde girl around Rein's age grasped onto Bright's arm while pulling him over to the dancing area. Bright gave the princess an apologetic look as the distance between the two became greater and greater by the second. Rein was on the verge of tears, but she knew that crying would not do her any good.

The vivid ballroom now seemed very stuffy to Rein and made her feel very apprehensive. The sight of Bright away from her and love-stricken couples cooing by the refreshment table made her feel like puking. Her parents weren't anywhere to be found, and going back to her room to sob would just make her feel worst the next morning. One thing was certain, though. If she stayed another moment in the room, she was sure she'd faint. Rein immediately ran out to the balcony she wanted to confess (and maybe kiss) Bright, taking a neatly folded napkin from the refreshment table to wipe off the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead.

The night was just as beautiful as the ballroom, Rein thought. That was very true, too. It was a full moon outside and the weather was pleasantly mild. The crisp breeze had cooled down Rein, and she finally felt like she was ready to give it another go with her confession plan. She saw that Altessa was being pestered by Prince Auraa, and that Bright was helping himself to some fruit punch.

"Come on, Rein," she thought. "This could be your only chance in a while to finally let Prince Bright know how you feel!"

"I'm going in!" she piped to herself.

Rein was prepared to trot back in the room and request Bright to come outside. She would've commenced with her plan too, had it not been for the azure-headed prince who was in a fit of cough.

"Prince Shade…" Rein whispered to herself. She had met Shade once when she and Fine went to the Moon Kingdom. She had also seen him at various banquets and parties, but she had never really talked to him. While Bright remained number one in her book, she had a slight liking in Shade as well.

Rein walked over to the coughing prince and asked "Are you okay, Prince Shade? You seem quite pale and… sick."

"…I-"

Shade tried to avoid eye contact with Rein, but it was no use. She continued to show concern as coughs continued to slip from his throat. Some tears had excreted out of the prince's eyes too. These tears were out of the continuous hacks not even his cough drops could stop, but who really knew? The boy was good at hiding things.

"Should I call up one of the castle nurses?" Rein caringly asked.

"No, I'm fine..." Shade sniffled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

"…"

Rein wanted to get back into the ballroom and finally free her heart from being weighed down by the feelings she was suppressing deep in her mind, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for Shade. At most balls and parties Rein had seen him in, he'd always be either with his little sister, Milky, his mother, Moon Maria, or alone at the balcony (or outside the ballroom). On such a beautiful night like this one, it would be a pity for _anyone _to be alone.

"Umm, Prince Shade?"

"Yes?"

"Would you… like to dance?"

Shade was generally liked by many people (particularly princesses), but this had been the first time someone around his age had asked _him_ for a dance. He didn't know exactly how to answer.

For starters, Shade absolutely hated areas infested with noisy people. Milky was occupied in dueling Fine over the large cake that stood high and mighty at the center of the room, meaning he'd be pretty much on his own in there. Even with the situation calling for him to reject her offer, Shade didn't want to be a loner. Not tonight, at least.

"Do we have to go back in _there_?" Shade openly asked.

"No, of course not!" Rein chuckled. "I don't think I can stand another second in there anyhow."

"Same here."

Shade and Rein had formed the closed dancing position and started moving along with the soft orchestral music that was booming inside of the castle. Shade's coughing somehow managed to stop when the two swooned over the granite balcony floor. Rein started feeling more and more comfortable with Shade. Just as she was thinking about how wonderful her night was, she found her right shoe hardly stepped on his right foot.

"Ahhhh!" Rein anxiously shrieked. She let go of his hand and moved a few inches away from Shade, much to his surprise.

"I'm really sorry about that! You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm fine." Shade softly answered.

"But… But-"

"I'm **fine**. Let's continue dancing, shall we?"

"…all right."

While continuing to dance with Shade, Rein's vision peeked over his shoulder to the ballroom, particularly at Prince Bright. It seemed Bright wasn't feeling very lonely this evening. He had the entertainment of a few nobles and was busy dancing with the Seed Kingdom princesses.

When she searched for Fine, she saw her cake-loving twin lost the duel to Milky and was sobbing over the now half-eating heaven-sent cake she did not earn. As for Shade, he got the occasional coughing fit, but he was in a far better condition than he was before.

Rein softly giggled. With how everything was set up at this point, Rein would be exclaiming about how wonderful her night was, while Fine would be lamenting about how the infant princess of Moon Kingdom gobbled _her _cake without even sharing a crumb. Rein didn't want to end this evening on a sour note, but…

"The night is so beautiful, especially out here."

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End file.
